


Diamond Treasure

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Isshin Taicho [16]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Crush, F/M, Family, Former Taicho Isshin, Former Tenth Division Isshin, Gen, Romance, Slow Burn, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-08-13
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25083025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: When Hitsugaya Toshiro unitentionally drags Karin into the mess, how is his former taicho, Kurosaki Isshin as he is now known, going to react to what is going on?
Relationships: Hitsugaya Toushirou & Kusaka Soujirou, Hitsugaya Toushirou/Kurosaki Karin
Series: Isshin Taicho [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849003
Kudos: 3
Collections: Bleach: Tenth Division Captain Isshin





	1. Involving Karin

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach.

The presence of certain things always had an effect on the tomboy of the Kurosaki twins. Yuzu was always wishing to be able to see ghosts, but truth of the matter, the young girl had no clue how much of a pain, the whole thing was. For example, for some odd reason, Karin hadn't been able to sleep well for some time now. She had finally fallen asleep nicely tonight, only to find her dreams plagued by another person's memories.

She had to admit though, unlike the other times, a warm feeling of familiarity came from the person whose memories she saw. She walked with the person, without them realizing that she was looking through their eyes, through some sort of school. The students were dressed in a rather old fashioned uniform, the boys trimmed in blue, the girls trimmed in red.

It didn't last though, as the dreams and memories turned dark, moody, almost as if the person whose memories she was receiving, happened to be brooding over something. She could feel the person's heart break. She also saw, in that cold cavern, the friend that had been walking side by side by the person, suddenly have their face slashed, and then be killed off.

At this, Karin sat up with a yelp and pulled her knees to her chest with her head burried. She let out an exasperated sound. The pain seemed so familiar to her. "I really can't argue that if I don't believe, they aren't real anymore."

She lifted her head, and pounted her fists on her head, trying to think of why it felt so familiar to her, the person whose dreams she had shared, though hazy in some asspects. However, something clicked, as realization hit her, of just who she received the memories from. Emotions welled in her chest, as they hit her hard. "Toshiro... those where Toshiro's memories."

This caused Karin to blink in surprise, as the boy had retained a countanance of emotionlessness, when she had met him. She couldn't understand how then, memories from the day the two met at the soccer filed, were left over, and coming out now. However, this thought process changed, when she felt an icy blast of rietstu coming from her brother's room. "What the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, her body sprung into action, and her feet swung over the edge of the bed. She then tiptoed to the door, to find her older brother Ichigo, passing through the hallways, his face twisted in iritation. "That little snot. All I wanted to do was help him! I thought he concidered me his friend!"

"Ichi-nii?" Karin watched as her brother continued to wear the carpet thin. "Ichi-nii!"

Her brother suddenly turned to her, the look on his face turning to one of complete shock. "Karin... you couldn't sleep?"

"Sort of," Karin glanced at the ground, knowing that he likely wouldn't tell her what all was going on. She felt though, she might as well try. "What's going on?"

"Nothing..." he obviously lied. "I'm sorry I woke you. Go back to bed." Karin watched as, instead of heading back to his room, he instead headed down stairs. The small female couldn't help but roll her eyes, at the fact that her brother constantly tried to protect her from the truth she already knew. She knew he was lying, and made up her mind, to find out the truth.

Carefully, she walked onver to the door, and cracked it open. As soon as she did, she saw and recognized the small figure curled up on her brother's bed, covered with the blanket. "Toshiro?" No awnser came from him, which lef for her to creep into the room. She tip toed over, and knudged the white haired boy on the shoulder. "Toshiro, don't make me hit you..."

"Please don't get involved, Kurosaki-san," the boy mummered, his voice filled with exaution. An electric shock suddenly ran through his body, as she plopped donw, so that she was sitting right up against his back. This caused him to his out, opening his eyes, and turning his head to face her a bit. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"I couldn't sleep," Karin stated firmly. "Plus, I've got questions to ask you, all right?"

"No... it isn't all right. I asked you not to get involved," the boy mummered, frustration all over his voice. Again, he refused to look her in the face.

"Come on Toshiro... you've been the only one so far to awnser my questions. I also get the idea there are certain questions you can't awnser, and I'll accept that. Here's question one."

"No... questions.." the young taicho growled through gritted teeth. Yet, unbeknown to Karin, he wasn't that anymore, and he didn't want her to know the truth. He tried fluctuating his reitsu, as a wanring. However, this didn't seem to phaze her, almost as if she actually enjoyed the icy touch.

"What was that school with those red and blue robes?" came her curious question.

Toshiro's face twisted up from confusion at this. "I thought you said you never asked anyone else, Kusoaki..."

"It's Karin... Ka...rin," the girl protested. "Question two, that guy galled you a genius. Is that why you hate being refered to as a kid?"

"Hey... hold it... how." Toshiro tried turning onto his side, but found his own line of questioning interupted, with another from the preteen girl.

And because of your friend dying, is that why you push Ichi-nii and me away..." Two teal eyes went wide at this comment from the girl. Toshiro thought about sitting up, but that meant looking Karin in the eyes, which would reveal how emotionally vulnerable he was right now.

"Soul Reaper academy... yes... partially... yes... parially again," Toshiro closed his eyes, his body relazing a bit. "My turn. How did you know about that. Your brother's heard Kusaka, but he doesn't know... he doesn't know about the other stuff, because I've never told anyone, and very few people know. Actually, I think I'm the only one left alive who does, other then Yamamoto."

He suddenly felt the girl tense up next to him. "You have to promise not to tell _anyone_. Ichi-nii is the only one who knows."

"I promise to keep that promise, unless I find a reason that I deem it necisary," came the typical response one might epect of him. This caused Karin to let out a huff of air.

"Some how, I saw your memories... it's happened before, to someone else. I was close to age wise. I saw the memories of that person."

"Do..." Toshiro haad a bit of shock in his voice. "do you do this on purpose... or do you have no control over it?"

"You shound like you think I'm a freak all of a sudden," Karin muttered. "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

"No... I'm sorry. I know what it's like though, to not be able to control... certain things. However, there are just... some memories that are more private then others. Most of mine... aren't good ones either. They aren't nice," the boy blurted out, almost making the mistake of turning to look her in the eyes, however, he caught himself doing this.

"They seemed rather nice Toshiro. Espessully compared to last time," Karin stated. "No... I can't control it, and sometimes I still have nightmares about it."

"I don't... didn't..." the boy muttered. "I don't want you having nightmares because of one of my stupid bad memories," came the huffy reply.

"Just get some sleep Toshiro, and don't worry about it." Karin suddenly lay down, so that her back was right up against the small taicho's.

"Wait... baka... can't you go sleep in your own bed?" Toshiro felt his face flush, as he was uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with a girl, and could imagine the no end of teasing, he would receive from Matsumoto... though his face saddened, realizing that might never happen again. He let out a deep breath. "Kurosaki-san? Kurosaki? Karin?"

However, a small snore reached his ears, and he knew that he was stuck with her for the rest of the night, as he himself lacked the energy needed to move. He hoped he would be up, before she woke up, for multiple reasons, one of which dealt with the fact that Kurosaki Ichigo was over protective, when he wanted to protect somethin.

**M**

The nagging parental instinct of his woke Isshin form his sleep. This caused him to get up out of bed, to lurk aroind, something that tended to drive his kids nuts, when they did know. It was late at night, so the chances of them finding out, were slim. There was a very distinct, familiar feeling that was bothering him, that insesent nagging feeling one of his kids was hurt.

His first stop was downstairs, to make sure that none of the kids... well, not really Yuzu... were getting a midnight snak . That would be if the case were correct, ample time to sneak up on the other two children. His mind though, doubted that this was the case, and he bit his lips as he snuck down the stairs, and peiced around the corner.

However, when he got down there, he simply found the telivision on, and went over to turn it off. Ichigo was fast asleep on the counc, snoring blissfully away, the controler on the ground. Isshin proceeded to cover his son with a blanket that had been folded and on the end of the counch. The nagging feeling was still there.

He then went up to check on his two girls, but when he cracked open the door, he only found one of his two girls. Yuzu was in her bed. Thoughts of Karin sneaking out at night, rushed through heis mind, but he managed to push them back. That nagging feeling remained there, and rather emblasened on his mind, and as a parent, it wasn't something he could ignore.

He peeked int Ichigo's room, and let out a sigh of relief, to find Karin there, but couldn't figure out why that bad feeling wasn't going away. He now knew where every single one of his children were, and he could see from just looking at them, that they were safe and sound. He turned to leave, but paused, remembering his former fukutaicho. He blinked a couple of times, remembering that child was also his, though not by blood.

Something clicked in his head, and he crept back towards the bed, the person that he hadn't seen, as they had been blocked from view by Karin, suddenly coming into view. His suspicions were confirmed, as to which of his little ones, he had been worried about. He shook his head, a smile spreading on his face, at how child like the two were.

However, he instinctivly reached a hand down, to touch the small taicho's forehead. He found it to be a tad warm. The small boy moved in his sleep, causing Isshin to pull back his hand. When Toshiro didn't wake, his hand reached down, scanning the small boy for injuries. It came across one small wound, and Kurosaki senior, found his hand jerking away. "It can't be at all possible..."

He then closed his eyes, and went to go stand outside the door, worry creasing his brow.


	2. Disapearing Act

Young Hitsugaya woke up extremely early like he usually did, which considering that he wanted to get away as soon as possible was a good thing in his mind. However, what wasn't a good thing was that his side still throbbed from the sword wound and his back was stiff and soar for some reason. After a few seconds, he realized it was because someone was in fact sleeping on the other side of him.

His mind first focused on the idea that Ichigo had likely chosen to sneak back into the room to make sure the small shinigami wouldn't try and leave without getting healed and explaining things. At that, Toshiro pushed himself up onto one of his elbows. "Kurosaki..."

However, the irritation left as he soon realized he'd gotten the wrong Kurosaki when it came to who decided to sneak in with him the night before. His face suddenly flushed realizing he had spent the night in close proximity to a girl who wasn't Hinamori, Matsumoto or his granny. "Kurosaki-san?"

When she didn't move, he let out a sigh of relief that she was still asleep. He carefully and painfully maneuvered his body so that he wouldn't wake her up. The entire situation, if Matsumoto Rangiku could have see in was a complex embarrassment. Hell, even now this was embarrassing for some reason he honestly couldn't figure out. He wasn't the one who had decided to do this.

He then carefully pulled the blanket and Hyorinmaru away. After retying his sheath, he carefully began to fold the blanket. As he did this, a voice piped ip from the bed. "I am not a heavy sleeper like my brother Toshiro."

"Why don't you go get dressed out of your knight clothes, Kur... Karin." Toshiro paused, deciding to use her first name in an attempt to catch her off guard and to get her to leave the room so he could leave. As he did this, eh removed his haori and folded it on top of the blanket.

"So you can just leave without even saying goodbye? You purposely broke habit there." Karin stated firmly. "If you think I am going to let you do that, think again."

"It isn't as if..." He meant to object to the idea that he was sneaking away, but something else came to bother him. "I don't want to say goodbye..."

"Come on Toshiro! Saying goodbye, it mean's we have a chance to meet again," the raven haired girl laughed.

"Meet again?" At that, his face faltered, his eyes going wide and showing a great deal of sadness in them. He turned to her and opened his mouth. "Look, the chances that we will be able to see each other again are next to nil, even if I survive, which at this point I doubt myself as likely to happen."

"Baka..." Karin stated, folding her arms across her chest, her face twisting up in irritation. "Isn't that an even bigger reason to say goodbye to someone."

At this, the small shinigami's eyes suddenly widened, then narrowed. With a swift movement, he grabbed the cloak he had used before Ichigo had found him and then quickly moved to the window and then disappeared from view. This of course caused Karin's eyebrow to twitch and she darted out of the room and headed downstairs.

"Karin?" Isshin poked his head out of his door, his eyes blurry.

"Not now goat-bear! I'm in a hurry!"

"Karin, you're in your nightclothes." However, the girl was all ready down stairs, slipping on her shoes and grabbing her small coin purse that she kept on a table by the door. As she got outside, she let out a sigh of relief to see Toshiro still standing there, bowing towards the house.

"Are you an old codger, Toshiro?" the darker haired Kurosaki twin stated, causing Toshiro to give her a startled look. "Let me at least use my allowance to get you something from the vending machine.

"I could easily refuse your generosity, Kurosaki." the small shinigami muttered, his voice indicating some sort of hurt.

"It might hurt your pride to accept generosity from someone, but I also thinks it would hurt your pride not to. Plus... I'm not strong like you or Ichi-nii. While he can help you in that regard, this really is the only way that I can. I'll feel bad if I don't do something... especially if I happen to find out..." Karin couldn't finish what she had been trying to say.

Toshiro glanced away, knowing exactly what she had been trying to say and spoke up with frustration in his voice. "Fine... I guess it wouldn't hurt."

**M**

Isshin was himself frantic. This was due to the fact, that as soon as he peered through Ichigo's room, he knew that two of his young ones were in danger. Due to certain issues, eh couldn't simply go out and deal with the problem at hand head on, especially when he personally lacked details with what was going on. Hus the best tactic was, at this point, to go and wake up his son, who was asleep on the couch.

"Hey... Ichi... Your sister's gone. Daddy's worried." Isshin muttered.

"Ehh... Karin probably went and is now playing soccer with her friends... or if it's Yuzu... she

s grocery shopping, or getting candy." Ichigo stated, sitting up from the couch and yawning. He then went upstairs, paying the old man no mind to let Toshiro know he would be calling Orihime. However... "That little snot!"

Isshin hurried up into the room, just in time for him to see Ichigo fleeing out the window while Kon sat on the bed. "Ne... What's happening?"

"Kon... I wish I knew. I think Karin just took of with Toshiro..."

"Ehh... they're going to elope?" the mod soul spoke up.

At that, Isshin's face turned read with anger. "If you seriously weren't in my son's body, you would have a major butt whooping coming to you!"

"Well... pardon me... they are of similar ages." Kon sighed.

"And just hitting puberty for that matter. Goodness knows, what I care about isn't that they might be eloping of all things."

"Aren't you usually rather reserved towards protecting your daughters innocence?"

"I... you are a major idiot, aren't you. Anyways, I know that isn't what is going on. I mean, Toshiro was heavily injured last night. Something is wrong." Isshin's face twisted up. "So have other things to worry about."

"I'd completely forgotten about that." Kon scratched Ichigo's head.

"You would.." Isshin muttered. "Both of my little ones are in danger."

"Ichigo will be fine. He always is. He also is really good at protecting his little sisters." Kon smiled.

"You are really good at missing what people are trying to say to you." The man snapped his words out.

"So's Ichigo." The mod soul quickly retorted. "I know, I have the heart of a lion, so I'll sniff Karin out, since I'm supposed to be acting like a big brother when he isn't around."

"You mean, go out on all four legs and sniff the ground?" Isshin's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah!" Kon stated.

"In my son's body?"

"I love embarrassing him!"

"Do you really think I would let you?" Isshin shook his head.

"Huh... weren't you worried about Ichigo and Karin?"

"You really don't get it..."

**M**

The small taicho had followed Karin to where the vending machines were and turned his head to see the sun starting to rise on the horizon. Karin apparently had noticed his behavior. "You really like sunrises and sunsets. Maybe this one will bring you good luck?"

" _I should really leave, before someone comes and she gets hurt._ " Toshiro thought to himself, distracted from what she had said to him."

" _Before you say goodbye to her?_ " The ice dragon's voice was faint, though still running in the back of his head. Trepidation or the fact that more then one person was using Hyorinmaru led to this phenomenon, or so the small taicho thought.

" _That is the idea. That way she doesn't notice and she won't begin to worry._ " The small boy stated, slinking away as the small female pushed buttons on the machine and then reached for the drinks.

Karin, upon not receiving a response from Toshiro, glanced up to find him gone "That jerk. What does he think he's trying to do, act all macho like this?" She held in her arms a few sodas and packages of food. Her mouth twisted in major disappointment. However, this didn't last long, as she felt the rietsu of two people clashing.

At first, she blinked her eyes upon feeling the reiatsu, her head hurting slightly. She realized quickly though, that the reiatsu belonged to Toshiro and her brother, as if they were in fact clashing. She cursed the two of them under her breath, wondering what was in fact going on. "Guys are idiots! You're _friends_ for crying out loud!"

The fighting got closer and she ducked to the side of one of the machines, not wanting her brother to notice her, lest he yell at her to get going, or something about the situation being dangerous. It was then that she saw the two females come out of the sky and she froze, taking in the site off the two females attacking Toshiro and her brother.

She felt her throat freeze as she saw Ichigo hit by an attack, his blood dripping to the ground. Somehow, he was able to drive them away, but the attack to his head caused him to teeter to the ground as Toshiro's attention was drawn by those two females suddenly and he moved to go after them. His eyes had an odd look to them.

Her brother then tried to get Toshiro's attention as he collapsed, calling out the young shinigami's name. While the shinigami was distracted, she quickly moved and wrapped her arms around his neck, dropping the vending machine food to the ground. "Toshiro! What are you doing!"

"Let go!" The young males body tensed up under neither her and she suddenly jumped up, swinging her legs up and around his waist so that he couldn't take off on her, which is what his body language said he would. She heard a sharp sound escape his lips and suddenly, they were both moving away, almost as if Toshiro panicked about her actions.

**M**

Ichigo found his mind to be furious with Hitsugaya Toshiro. He simply wanted to help, but then he saw a great deal of pain in the youths eyes. The two girls attacked, giving him a good whack to his head. The first thing he saw as he began to collapse was the fact that Toshiro was making to take off on him, as if he were running.

However, his brown eyes suddenly caught sight of his young sister Karin standing by the vending machine. She had hidden herself there, in a position that he couldn't see her until now. What his father was speaking of hit him hard as she dropped the items she had obviously bought to the ground and lunged at the small shinigami.

"Toshiro! What are you doing!"

"Let go!" Ichigo felt himself blacking out as Toshiro said this, knowing full well how the young shinigami reacted to certain things. To his dismay, Karin only held on tighter, and they were both gone, and then gone were his senses.


	3. Injured Heart

Hitsugaya Toshiro's mind was spinning as he and Ichigo fought the two female Arrancar. His mind reeled at the idea that someone was getting hurt because of him. That was why he needed to take care of this mess himself. This was no matter how much Kurosaki pressured him into letting him help, he simply couldn't allow it.

He watched as Ichigo began to collapse to the ground and he knew this was the best time to leave the young man so that he wouldn't get further involved. A fear reigned in his heart and he wanted the pain to go away, the pain he didn't understand. While he concentrated on these thoughts, he didn't realize that someone he had forgotten about was moving behind him.

"Toshiro!" Suddenly, two small arms wrapped around his neck, Karin's breath falling next to his right ear. "What are you doing!"

At that, he felt his body tense up, the sudden feeling of being touched like that a shock to him. Practically no one touched him like this except for his grandmother and sometimes Matsumoto. He could feel the color leave his face too and he snapped out the words. "Let go!"

However, instead of letting go, Karin hung on tighter, jumping up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist, almost as if she were trying to stop him from escaping. This caused the wound on his side to open up again and for him to let out a sharp yelp of pain. Panic also filled his mind and his mind reveled, not being able to think straight.

At that, he shunpooed away, Karin still hanging onto him, tightly. As he landed, he stumbled backwards a few steps, not being used to this kind of weight on his back. He then shunpooed again, having nearly the same experience when he landed again, but the next few times his steps were their normal rhythm, despite the fact that his mind was in complete panic.

Finally, he stepped into an alleyway, his breath coming to him hard and ragged. He felt Karin slip off his back, her hands still around his shoulders. "Toshiro?"

"Why?" His words came out, as his face twisted up in frustration. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I'm not going to let you push me away because one of your friends died on you." The dark haired twin snapped out. "Seriously, were you _honestly_ thinking of leaving my brother there, injured without helping him? I thought better of you Toshiro."

"It was either that, or have him follow me and get hurt even worse." The small shinigami blurted out, suddenly grasping his knees in frustration.

"You are afraid of the people around you getting hurt, aren't you?" Karin stated, watching as the boy slid to the ground.

"I am not afraid! I am not afraid of anything!" Hitsugaya's words snapped out again.

"That is a complete lie, and we both know it." The girl stated, one of her shoes scuffing the ground, causing him to look up.

When he did, he saw blood on her leg, and his eyes became wide. "Did you... did you get hurt too?"

At that, Karin glanced down to where his eyes were looking, to the spot on her inner thigh. "No. I'm not hurt Toshiro." Her mouth suddenly hung open, realization hitting her. "Toshiro... I forgot you were hurt. The blood's yours." At that, she bent down onto her knees and pulled back the cloak, in time to see the blood seeping through the bandages.

"I'm fine..." The boy glanced away, his teal eyes showing a great deal of pain.

"No, you're not." Karin placed a hand on his chest. "Leave it to Ichi-ni to wrap the bandages on the outside, rather then the inside."

"I'll be fine." Toshiro repeated the words.

"Again, I'll say you aren't. There is a convenience store near here. I'll go get some first aide supplies." The female paused for a few seconds. "However, I can't trust you not to take off on me."

"I promise that I'll stay." The boy let out a deep breath, folding his arms across his chest.

"And then you'll break your promise and take off on me like you did before." Karin stated firmly.

"I didn't make a promise the time before." The boy's body tensed up, his head darting downwards.

The preteen female looked at the boy for a few minutes, then nodded her head. "I'll trust you to keep your promise. If you don't... well, I trust that breaking said promise will eat away at you."

**M**

His mind was black, his head throbbing from the attack. He could hear someones voice calling for him, telling him to wake up. He felt like a complete idiot for falling for what he had, for not realizing the situation that Karin had gotten herself into. Ichigo suddenly felt a fist launched into his face and he startled awake."

"Ichigo?" Rukia peered into his face.

"What the hell is going on?" the substitute shinigami stated, holding a hand to his face. "And why did Renji punch me in the face?"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro has been labeled a traitor by soul society. We either have to bring him in for questioning, or kill him on site." Abarai's eyes were narrowed as he reached a hand down to help Kurosaki up from the ground.

"That little brat. What exactly did he do to warrant this?" Ichigo muttered, irritation spreading over his face.

"A very important object was stolen that he was supposed to be guarding," Rukia sighed. "He simply took off right after the object belonging to the royal family was stolen."

"That doesn't mean he's guilty though." The substitute shinigami folded his arms across his chest, frustration written on his face.

"We don't like this any more then you do." The fukutaicho of the sixth division glanced at the ground. "We have enough problems as it is without him going and pulling a stunt like this."

"It isn't as simple as that. Karin is with him." Ichigo piped up, worry spreading across his face.

"Your little sister?" Rukia's eyes blinked a couple of times surprise and worry evident on her face.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that Hitsugaya Taicho kidnapped your younger sister?" Renji snorted out of his nose. "If it weren't for the current situation, I would find this rather funny."

"I don't see how it is funny at all," Kurosaki retorted, his eyes narrowing with distaste.

"Hitsugaya Taicho never acts his age, so him suddenly taking an interest in a girl..." At that point, Abarai found himself interrupted with a good solid kick to the face by Rukia.

"Now is not the time." The Kuchiki noble folded her own arms. "Why would he take her?"

"Well... he didn't exactly kidnap her..." Ichigo reached up and scratched his head at this. "I am still going to seriously hurt him when I find him for putting her into danger like this."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that she went willingly with him?" Renji shook his head. "You know that makes her his accomplice, right?'

"Wait!" Ichigo held up a hand. "She didn't go willingly with him either. She jumped him trying to stop him from getting away."

"Ichigo... I am not sure if I can trust your memory on this as you have a head injury." Rukia sighed.

"Yeah, how can some girl from the living world jump a captain of all people. You insist that she isn't an accomplice?" Renji stated firmly, to which Ichigo nodded his head.

**M**

Karin walked into the convenience store and picked up some bandages, a small sewing kit and some disinfectant, along with some food. She opened her coin purse and set the change on the counter. The man raised an eyebrow but choose not to say anything. Having only a few coins left, she walked around the corner to behind the wall.

Upon turning the corner, she saw Toshiro leaning up against the wall, panting slightly as he leaned up against his zampaktuo. She walked over to the young taicho and knelt down. "Toshiro?"

At that, he glanced up, his face pale. "I made a promise, did I not?"

Karin simply ignored him and pulled the cloak lose from his shoulders and then began to unwrap the bandages around his waist. "You did keep your promise."

Her hands then went up to pull on the shoulder of his uniform, which caused him to blink a couple of times, then to reach up and grab her hand. "Can't you just wrap it around like your brother did?"

"Are you a _baka_ like Ichi-nii? That works when you need something quick and easy." The female sighed. She then caught the expression of exasperation plastered on Toshiro's face. "Look, I know I can get this over quickly, but truth of the matter is, you run the chance of your injury opening up again."

As she pulled the uniform down, Toshiro felt his cheeks heating up, his mind not at all comfortable with the idea of her bandaging him up and for some reason his mind also went to the fact that Karin seemed to not be phased at all with what was going on. She reached out her fingers to touch the injury, causing him to flinch.

It was then that the preteen female's expression changed. She didn't seem bothered by applying first aide to her shinigami friend, but more concerned with what she saw. "The injury... how come I can feel the same kind of aura that comes from your sword? Yet... it is different for some reason."

"That's because it was made with the same sword, so to speak." Toshiro closed his eyes.

Karin went and dumped a little bit of the substance for disinfecting injuries onto the thread and needle. "This is going to hurt."

At that, two eyes snapped open and blinked a couple. "What do you mean?"

However, he quickly felt her press the wound together and then stitch it back together. He made the mistake of casting his teal orbs onto the area she was working with, and he suddenly felt green at what he saw. This reminded him too much of the vaccines Unohana tried giving him and he paled, letting out a yelp of pain as he did so.

At that, he closed his eyes shut, until he felt Karin wrapping the bandages around his waist. His face remained colorless except for his flushed cheeks. She placed a hand on his chest when she finished and let out a sigh of relief. "There. It is done. Not the best I would like to have done, but it will have to do."

She then glanced up at the boy. "Toshiro, what is the matter?"

"Needles..." the boy muttered, his face turning a shade of green.

"Oh... I'm sorry about that." Karin stated, pulling his uniform back on, not noticing the young male's cheeks flushing slightly.

"Can I go now?" Hitsugaya let out a deep sigh, only to hear a rustling of a bag, and suddenly found a roll of bread shoved into his face.

"I promised to treat you, to make sure you had something in your stomach to give you the stamina you need for this journey you're going on. I'll help you in the way I know how." The female gave him a rather large smile and Toshiro reluctantly took the food from her. He bit down, suddenly realizing how hungry he really was.


	4. Spinning World

The piece of bread that she gave him went into his mouth, causing his stomach to grumble. Normally he wouldn't wolf down the food he ate, but for some reason he couldn't help but to shove the food into his mouth. " _I wish that she wasn't helping me like this. She's going to get herself hurt. She wasn't incorrect in surmising that I don't want to risk losing another friend. If she would know that though, why isn't she backing off? She should know how I feel about all of this."_

" _This isn't about her worrying about your feelings. This is about her doing the right thing. She sees a friend in need and she has made the decision to help them. It is as simple as that._ "

Toshiro leaned back, not liking the fact that Hyorinmaru's voice was as faint as it was. He closed his eyes, only to find another piece of bread shoved into his hand. This piece he ate slower and he watched Karin, his cheeks heating up a bit for some reason he couldn't place. The girl however spoke up. "I know what you're thinking. I'm not going to back off on this. You may be upset if something happened to me, but how do you think I would feel if something happened to you?"

The boy turned his head. "I need to be going Karin." The boy stood up, stumbling a bit as he stood, only to have the sleeve of his uniform grabbed. He started walking at a slow pace as that was what his body could handle, only to wobble and find that Karin wasn't letting go of his sleeve. She kept ahold of his sleeve even when he bent down to pick up his blade so he could lean on it.

"You know, I can help you."

"I'm going to tell you that I don't want you involved."

"I think that's a bit late for that, don't you think."

The boy looked away, the heat rising in his cheeks even more. " _Seriously... did she just walk me into a position where I can't refuse her help?_ "

" _I believe so._ "

Toshiro stopped and turned to look at her as he made his decision to speak up, only to find his eyes adverting into another direction as he couldn't look her straight in the eye.. "Look... I know you mean well... and you likely think that I would let you stay with me because I've gotten you involved, but the fact is you can stop being involved."

"Toshiro... I see a friend in need. I can't very well leave that alone."

" _Apparently you missed what I was getting at._ "

" _Shut up._ " The boy felt his cheeks heat up. "Please..."

"Because you don't want me to get hurt. How selfless of you."

The boy stopped short, spinning around so that he found himself falling to the ground. "What?" Toshiro let out a groan as he sat on his bottom hard. He looked right up at her. "I know that you can likely sense that I don't want you to get hurt, but where did that that sarcastic remark at the end come from."

Karin reached her hand down to help the boy up and Toshiro proceeded to dust himself off and prepare to limp off again using his blade to support himself. He found himself stopping short when he heard what she said next. "I know exactly where that remark came from, but the fact is you don't know where that remark comes from."

Toshiro's eyes widened and he stared at her. "Exactly what is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't just feel the emotions people give of that they know that they have Toshiro, I feel the ones they don't even realize they have. I can't tell you _where_ that comment came from simply because it is related to feelings you haven't come to realize you have. Perhaps I shouldn't have told you that your reasons for keeping me safe were not a selfless act, but you know what... it isn't a selfless act."

"So... can you tell me that what you're doing is a selfless act?"

"If I believed that, then I would believe tht the things my brother does are selfless acts."

Toshiro's breath became heavy. "Kurosaki... I think..." The boy found himself closing his eyes and felt Karin helped him lean against a wall. "Your brother is the most selfless person I know."

"And yet he doesn't ever ask for help when he knows he needs it."

"I don't think it is an issue of him asking for help when he knows he needs it. Your brother is so hot headed that he doesn't think about getting help and rushes head long into a situation."

"And what do you call what you're doing?"

"I'm _not_ rushing into things. Just because you can feel my emotions and see my memories doesn't mean you understand the way I think or who I am."

Silence fell over the two and he felt Karin finally let go of his sleeve. After a few minutes he opened his eyes, thinking she had left, only to see she was still standing in front of him. The boy opened his mouth and let out a deep breath. "You're still here? I thought you'd given up. You know that I could easily leave if you let go."

"I think you could have easily have left even with my hand on your sleeve." Karin's hands went behind her back. "I don't think we've been quite fair to each other."

Toshiro looked away then, his cheeks heating up. "How so?"

"You haven't trusted me like I want you to trust me, but in the same regard I haven't trusted you either." Karin folded her arms. "While I admit I haven't respected the fact you're freaked out about the idea of me getting hurt, you haven't respected the fact I'm freaked out about you getting hurt even more then you are."

Toshiro felt himself swallow. "Why do you have to be as manipulative as my former taicho?" He stood up, leaning on the blade and began moving forward in a direction away from the convenience store. Every so often he would look back and see that she was following behind him. He found himself gritting his teeth. " _She_ _knows_ _that I can't use shunpoo again in the state I am._ "

" _You did realize that she knows how to manipulate things to get her way though. If you had realized this sooner..."_

" _Hyorinmaru... I don't want her involved."_

" _Why?"_

" _Why? Do I need a reason beyond the one I gave her?_ " Toshiro began to look around for a place to hide, then noticed the small shrine. He headed up the stairs and when he got to the top he saw that Karin was gone. Letting out a sigh he slipped into the empty shrine and leaned against the window. " _I need to rest._ " He found himself dozing off, only to suddenly feel something cold on his cheek. This caused him to let out a yelp and move away."

Turning to look in the direction of the cold substance he saw that Karin was holding out a can of soda for him. He tried opening his mouth to say something, only to find himself shaking his head. One hand reached out to grab the soda and he leaned back up against the wall and opened up the can with a satisfying crack. "Why? I thought you had gone."

"Figures you would have thought I was gone. Shrines lead to dead ends which means that you are planning on staying here for awhile. I went to go and get some more supplies for you."

"I don't like the fact you're wasting all of your money on me."

"Wasting? You're my friend."

"It's a waste because by the end of this I am going to be dead. I'm either going to be dead by his hands or I'm going to be killed by Soul Society because they think I've become a traitor."

" _You just said too much._ "

Karin sat down next to him, dropping a bag into the boy's lap. "There's something hot for you to eat in there. I had the feeling you would say something like that. You've really gotten yourself into a mess, haven't you?"

"A mess?" Toshiro shook his head. "I've been trying to make it clear to you that this is something I've _got_ to handle. I can't get anyone else involved as it's between me and him. It was my fault he died that day."

"How so?" The sound of another soda was heard opening up.

"You've apparently seen my memories Karin. You should know why it's my fault."

"No, I actually _don't_ know why it is your fault. You were not the person who dealt him a killing blow. Hell, you didn't even move to kill your friend. So how is it your fault?"

"It should have been me to die that day."

"Is that really the truth?" Karin snapped the words out, causing Toshiro to flinch.

"Seriously... " Toshiro shook his head. "You say you can feel my feelings, so you should know the guilt I feel. I got _everything_ he wanted to achieve, things I _never_ wanted for myself. If two people are born who share the same zampaktuo, shouldn't it be the older one who dies anyways."

"I'm simply going to remind you that I don't just feel a persons feelings that they accept, but also the one they don't. Just eat."

The boy reached in to pick up the food she had gotten him, frowning as he began to eat. "I can't feel your feelings and I'm honestly not someone who is good at understanding others."

"So what? You want me to tell you that I'm mad at you for giving up on the idea of living to see tomorrow after all of this is gone. You're so upset about losing your own friend and yet you can't understand what it feels like for me, the idea that you're going to die."

"At least we can say good bye."

"Toshiro! You're missing the point!" Karin let out a sigh and then suddenly leaned her head against his shoulder, causing the boy to flinch. "I don't want to give up on you yet. I think it's really stupid of you not going to your friends for help and letting them think you betrayed them. You're supposed to be smarter then this."

The boy closed his eyes and let out a sigh himself. "Look..." The boy turned is head to look at the girl, only to have his cheeks flush up, and his throat clench.

"Stop thinking perverted thoughts."

Toshiro felt his cheeks flush up even more. "Per.. per... I'm not a pervert." He stopped short upon realizing that Karin wasn't responding. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving. A few minutes later a soft snore came from her mouth. "Good grief..." The boy reached over and took her soda from her hand, setting it on the ground beside her. " _Well... this is an embarrassing situation. Kurosaki would kill me if he saw me like this with his sister. I guess I have another bullet point on my list of why I'm going to end up dead._ "

" _You do know that this would be a good time to take off while she is still sleeping. She would be safer without you being here."_

" _If I took off on her, she would never forgive me."_

" _You do know that they may think she is an accomplice?"_

" _Well... I guess I have something to do before they decide to execute me. I have to make sure they understand that she is no accomplice, that I've acted on my own."_

" _Yes... that will be believable. I honestly don't believe you understand what you've gotten yourself into. No... you haven't even begun to understand your own situation._ "


	5. Ones Sanity

Toshiro looked up at the ceiling, his cheeks continuing to have a heat to them that wouldn't go away. This did not help him ignore the fact a warm body was right next to him as he leaned up against the wall. His small hand tried twisting the hilt of his blade in his hand, but this didn't help the fact the situation was far from his liking."

" _Actually... you are enjoying this._ "

" _Shut up Hyorinmaru._ " The boy's eyes snapped down, the distance from which Hyorinmaru's voice came from causing him to feel even more agitated. He felt himself swallow, only to have one of his hands slide down to touch Karin's for a few seconds, only to pull away once he realized what he was doing. " _Kurosaki is going to kill me for being this close to his sister._ "

" _But you are enjoying her company._ "

Toshiro's hand slipped down. " _I'll admit that I'm enjoying not being alone. I was prepared to die for this, but for some reason the thought of my own death agitates me._ "

" _That's because you happen to know the person next to you would be sad if you died._ "

Toshiro swallowed again, closing his eyes as the exhaustion he felt got the better of him. How long he dozed off for, he honestly didn't know. He found himself jarred awake upon feeling the familiar reiatsu of two fukutaicho. He started to move to look out the window, only to realize that Karin was next to him, his eyes darting first to look at her then the window. " _What have I done? I told her I didn't want to be dragged into this._ "

Toshiro gently lifted Karin up and off him as she was still sleeping and carefully got up. His feet were soft as he heard someone call out for him to exit the building. Karin began to stir. " _I've got to get this over with before she wakes up._ "

He stepped out of the room, his hand on his blade. Hisagi and Kira were both watching him. Hisagi spoke up. "Hitsugaya Taicho, you have been charged with treason as well as the possible kidnapping of the sister of the substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo."

" _They don't think she is an accomplice._ " The boy's bright teal eyes narrowed at the two of them. "Yes... I kidnapped her." He watched as Hisagi's eyes widened. " _Sorry for lying Karin, but it is for your own good. Please, please stay put._ "

"I'm sorry to hear that." The ninth division fukutaicho had a disappointed sound in his voice. "So I take it you're not going to come quietly?"

"Of course not." Toshiro drew his blade, lunging at Hisagi. " _I have to keep Karin safe, even if it means I never end up facing him._ "

Things seemed to be going his way, until Hisagi decided to use kido. "Bakudo number fifty two, Hyapporankan!"

The boy tried to dodge the attack as it came after him, only to find himself pierced by one of the kido rods. " _I have to keep Karin safe._ " Toshiro reached up, pulling out the blade despite the pain. He turned to face them.

"Please... Hitsugaya Taicho..."

Toshiro shook his head, his teeth pushing together. " _I have to protect her._ " The boy opened his mouth, not hearing the door he had come through opening. "Reign..." He found himself stopping short as someone grabbed him from behind, causing his small body to tense up even more. He could feel his hand shake. " _No..._ "

"Toshiro! Stop it. " Karin's breath was hot on his ear and he could feel his cheeks heating up due to how close she was, his mind remembering when Gin had taken similar positions behind Rangiku, except he was partially turned around. Hisagi and Kira both now had looks of shock on their faces.

Toshiro felt Karin reach out and touch his hand and he remembered when he had briefly touched her hand while in the shrine. " _Why does it feel nice, touching her hand?_ "

"Toshiro. Please." The boy's hand trembled a bit, but the grip on his blade loosened a bit. "Instead of trying to do things on your own, get help. Give me Hyorinmaru."

He felt the blade slip out of his hand and watched as Hyorinmaru slipped out of his hands into Karin's. " _Sorry Hyorinmaru. I'm sorry for giving you to another person._ "

" _Don't worry. You're doing the right thing._ " Toshiro felt his adrenaline levels suddenly drop. His knees collapsed out from underneath him and he felt his hands scrape against the ground. Karin of course was knocked off her feet as she was pulled down with him. His vision blurred slightly and his hands shook.

" _How come it feels like I let everyone down._ " The boy's eyes fell shut.

**M**

Karin wasn't sure what caused her to start waking up. It could have been the strange rieatsu, or the fact she might have felt Toshiro move her while she slept. Her eyes though opened when she heard a sound from outside and she realized that the white haired boy was gone. She then pushed herself up to look out the window in time to see the fight outside and she felt her throat tighten. Her fingers twitched as she saw Toshiro pulling the light bar out of his body.

She then found herself pushing up and through the door as someone asked Toshiro to stop. The white haired boy was obviously going to do something stupid and she found herself reaching out to grab him, stopping him from releasing his zampaktuo. "Toshiro! Stop it!" She knew the boy was reluctant, but continued to plead with him. "Instead of trying to do things on your own, get help. Give me Hyorinmaru."

She could feel how tense the boy's body was, but he let the blade slip into her hand, and she then felt herself being pulled to the ground as Toshiro's body collapsed from exhaustion. One of her arms wrapped protectively around his chest area and she looked at the two male Shinigami with their fukutaicho badges, not at all sure what she needed to do now.

The one to put up his blade was the blonde haired Shinigami. He approached the two children with slow steps closely followed by the other Shinigami who had the fukutaicho badge. He knelt down and looked Karin in the eye. "We need to ask if Hitsugaya Toshiro actually kidnapped you or are you helping him to betray Soul Society?"

Karin frowned, thinking carefully of what the man had said. "Neither. It isn't possible to help him betray Soul Society if he is not trying to betray Soul Society."

Hisagi shook his head and opened his mouth to say something, only to be stopped by a phone ringing. He choose then to sheath his own sword. He picked up his phone and listened to the other side, only to speak up with a rather agitated tone. "That's not possibly. Hitsugaya Taicho is _here_ with us. Before that he was with the Substitute Shinigami's sister. He couldn't have possibly have attacked Kyoraku Taicho. That..." There was a pause. "I understand."

Karin flinched, pulling Toshiro suddenly closer to her and away from Kira. "They aren't insisting that Toshiro did it are they?"

Kira looked up at the other Shinigami. "Are they Shuhei?"

"No..." The phone clicked shut. "They said to bring him back for questioning."

"Then what is bothering you."

"Kyoraku Taicho was definitely attacked using Hyorinmaru." Hisagi looked over at Karin as she swallowed and turned pale. "Do you know something about this?"

The preteen took a deep breath. "I don't think it is my place to say what I know."

The darker haired Shinigami's eyebrow's raised up. Kira however turned his focus to seeing to the small taicho. "Um... Kurosaki's little sister... would it be possible for me to look at Hitsugaya Taicho's injuries?"

Karin frowned, then loosened her grip on her friend. The blond haired Shinigami reached over and lowered the boy to the ground. He reached to pull the boy's clothing back, only to stop short. Hisagi noticed this. "All right. Now I need to ask what is bothering you."

"One of Hitsugaya's injuries..."

"We only hit him once."

"I know. The other injury... it was caused by Hyorinmaru."

Hisagi opened his mouth, turning his head to look at Karin. The girl however looked away. "The other order we have is to bring you back with us as well. They are arranging it so you will have safe passage through."

Karin looked up at him, frowning as she did so. Letting out a sigh she moved over to the wall and folded her legs up. She watched as Kira went to work. The blond frowned. "So... were you the one who did these stitches."

"Yes. He was hurt. I couldn't very well leave him be like that."

"I'm just surprised that he let you actually do this."

"You mean because he absolutely hates needles."

Hisagi suddenly snorted. "Needles? Does Hitsugaya Taicho really have a problem with needles."

Kira shook his head. "I don't know. I do know from Hinamori that he has problems with going to the forth division and getting treatment when he needs it as he dislikes being touched. How did you do it?"

Karin didn't speak for a few minutes then decided upon what she wanted to say. "You guys have met my brother, so you know how stubborn he is. We get it from both sides of the family." She paused for a few seconds. "Is Rangiku-san mad at him."

"Ran..." Hisagi paused. "You've met his fukutaicho? Actually... you call _both_ of them by their first names?"

Karin fell silent, watching as the blond haired Shinigami began to provide aide to the small taicho, then closed her eyes and choose to relax. " _I'm not sure if I did the right thing._ "


End file.
